Xiaomi 13T Pro Review: Is it a Great Camera Smartphone
Xiaomi has added another smartphone to the Xiaomi 13 series. The Xiaomi 13T Pro promises to be a fantastic flagship smartphone with Leica-tuned cameras and professional-grade features. The smartphone looks great on paper, with exceptional specs and solid features, but is this enough to convince us that it’s a flagship smartphone?
Let’s Inspect!
Summary
Pros
- Comes with a 120W fast charger
- Great cameras
- Latest Connectivity standards
- Powerful chipset and stunning screen
- Extensive software and security updates promised
Cons
- No wireless camera
- Mediocre front camera
Xiaomi 13T Pro – Price
As the name implies, the Xiaomi 13T Pro is a high-end smartphone, and so is its price. The smartphone is launched at 800$.
Xiaomi is not a global brand. It is not available in some regions, and North America is one of them. It has its roots well settled in European and Asian markets, but the device is not for you if you are from the US.
Xiaomi 13T Pro – Unboxing
Unpacking feels excellent as it comes in a big box, which means it comes with a charging brick. The first thing you will notice in the box is the slim case holding the cell phone cover, paperwork, and SIM ejection tool. Then we have the smartphone, and the last things in the box are the 120W charging brick and USB Type-C cable.
I like the fact that Xiaomi has not cheaped out on charging bricks. They have included a top-of-the-line charger, a great initiative from the company. A disappointing thing is the phone case; Xiaomi has always used the boring transparent case and has never tried something new. I would love a unique cover that complements the phone’s design.
Technical Specifications
- Body: Gorilla Glass 5 front, Silicone Polymer back or glass back, and plastic frame
- Weight: 200 or 206 grams
- Screen: 6.67-inch AMOLED screen, 1220 x 2712 pixels resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, 2600 nits peak brightness
- Processor: MediaTek Dimesity 9200+ Octa-core processor
- Memory: 256GB/512GB + 12GB, 1TB + 16GB
- OS: Android 13, MIUI 14
- Rear Cameras: Main Camera: 50MP f/1.9 with OIS, Telephoto: 50MP f/1.9 with 2x optical zoom, Ultrawide: 12MP with f/2.2
- Front Camera: 20MP f/2.2
- Battery: 5000mAh battery with 120W fast charging
- Speakers: Yes, Stereo speakers
- Sensors: Under display optical fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass and color spectrum sensor
- NFC: Yes
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 tri-band, Bluetooth 5.4, USB Type-C 2.0
Design and Build Quality
Xiaomi 13T Pro is a big smartphone with a 6.67-inch screen. I have bought the alpine blue color. The shade of blue is not my favorite, but it looks fresh and has a nice leather texture that is not slippery. The smartphone has a big camera bump that looks nice and serves a great purpose, but it is too big.
Ports and button placement are very traditional. The volume rocker and power button are on the right, the sim tray, speaker, and Type-C port are on the bottom, and the IR blaster and second speaker are on top. A 3.5mm jack is missing, which we have seen in other 13 series smartphones.
Xiaomi 13T Pro does not have metal construction, but it feels strong and reliable. The glass on the front is Gorilla Glass 5 with a silicone polymer back and plastic frame. Moreover, it is IP68 dust and water-resistant.
Xiaomi 13T Pro – Display
Xiaomi 13T Pro features a 6.67-inch AMOLED screen. The stunning has superb color tuning and exceptional peak brightness, supporting Dolby Vision and HDR 10+. It is among the smartphones I can use under the sunlight thanks to its 2600nits peak brightness.
The gaming experience is super smooth, partly because of the powerful chipset, but the 144Hz screen also has a big role in making it look exceptional.
Xiaomi 13T Pro – Camera
Now we have the Leica-tuned camera, which is close to perfect. This time, the camera has more emphasis on videos with 10-bit recording, LUTs, and many other modes for great videos.
The daytime performance is decent, with excellent dynamic range, exposure, and colors. The primary image sensor has exceptional quality. No matter what you throw, it will capture stunning shots. However, it is a relatively small image sensor, so you will have difficulty getting bright shots during the night.
A telephoto lens could be better. It is a 50MP camera with just 2x optical zoom, which is not ideal for a flagship smartphone; it can take good photos, but so does the primary camera.
I also have good words about the ultrawide lens; the pictures are sharp and crisp in both day and night shots.
The videos from Xiaomi 13T Pro are super. It is a Pro phone with 24FPS recording and many professional options with Leica touch. Watch our YouTube video to understand the camera performance better.
The 20MP front camera is also lovely. It does not have OIS, but the results are promising with EIS. One thing I would criticize is the videos are limited to 1080p only.
One thing that could have been on par is the AI. Dimensity’s AI is not as good as we have seen in Snapdragon. We can see artifacts in portrait mode, and other similar areas are also present in various modes. It is a well-capable SOC, but Snapdragon’s optimizations are on another level.
I appreciate the camera app. The older generation was great, but the current layout is even better. It has numerous photo and video modes. One of them is teleprompter, which is a good thing for online calls and vloggers as you can put your script on screen. Similarly, the Pro mode allows you to control many more parameters manually, which is great for professionals.
Performance and User Experience
Hardware
Dimensity 9200+ is a fantastic chipset. It is not as good as Snapdragon in terms of AI, but the overall performance is on par. With super smooth animations, responsive swipes, and touches, I think Xiaomi has better tuned this chipset than with Snapdragon in the non-T Xiaomi 13 series.
The powerful SoC with an exceptional screen provides nothing but a positive experience no matter what you throw.
Speakers are also very clear and loud. The dual speaker setup works perfectly; Xiaomi has built great speakers even without Harman Kardon.
Moreover, all the connectivity standards are top-of-the-line. It has Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, 5G, and everything you need for a good connection. The only downgrade is the USB 2.0 standard.
Software
Android 13 and MIUI 14 are a perfect combination. It is rich in functions and has most of the features that every Xiaomi user loves, along with some new things like the dual apps that allow you to have two copies of every app. The sidebar has got better with advanced gaming mode and many customization options.
At the same time, Xiaomi has also removed some good old features like the Classic Control Center, which is replaced by the Xiaomi new control center that looks more like an iPhone rip-off.
The best thing about the Xiaomi 13T Pro is that they have promised four years of OS updates and five years of security patch updates. It means the expiration date of this smartphone is 2028.
Battery Endurance
Xiaomi 13T Pro has a solid 5000mAh battery that easily takes me throughout the day with 8 hours of screen time. But the standby consumption of the smartphone is like every Xiaomi phone. Overall, the battery timing is not better than 3900mAh Samsung Galaxy S23, but the real advantage is 120W fast charging that charges the smartphone in just 20 minutes.
Drawbacks
- No wireless charging
- Mediocre selfie camera
- USB 2.0 standard
- Plastic frame
Conclusion
So, the Xiaomi 13T Pro is not a true flagship smartphone but a good combination of excellent cameras, powerful SoC, exceptional screen, and extended software support. With future updates, it will be interesting to see how Xiaomi enhances the MediaTek Dimensity 9200+ performance.
